


Gift

by Karria



Series: Critical Role Rarepairs [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8388553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karria/pseuds/Karria
Summary: Cassandra was way too busy to remember her birthday, but he didn't forget.





	

They had an agreement, Kynan and her.  They made it after he was first appointed as her guard- something she was vigorously opposed to before she actually met him.

It turned out they had a lot more in common than she thought they would.

So they made a deal- she didn’t make his job difficult by purposefully getting away from him, and in return he never treated her like she needed protection. At times, they trained together in castle, even though Cassandra had to manage her time carefully.

Before she knew it, she grew accustomed to him, his nervous smiles and their long talks after exhausting training. So one day she asked him to just call her by her name instead of “my lady” or “Lady Cassandra”, and he turned an interesting shade of red before agreeing. It took a few weeks for him to actually start using her permission.

Sometimes he still mixed it up.

So when she heard a quiet “My lady,” behind her back one day at the office, she knew immediately who paid her a visit.

“Kynan,” she said. “I told you to call me Cassandra.”

He smiled nervously at her when she turned to see him. He was standing in the doorframe, his hands folded behind his back.

“Sorry.” He took a step forward towards her, fumbling nervously. “Ah, I...”

“Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Cassandra leaned against her desk, tilting her head curiously.

“Yes, uhm...” Kynan looked at his feet. “It’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

Cassandra froze in place. She had forgot about her own birthday? She didn’t want to believe it, but he was right, it was today. She remembered vaguely that Percival promised her a proper celebration once he got back, but he didn’t know if they manage to make it in time.

She forgot, but Kynan remembered, and it made her feel warm inside, like she was standing right next to a fireplace.

“Yes, it seems so,” she didn’t want him to think he messed it up. “I forgot about it.”

Kynan’s face broke into a sad smile, like he remembered something unpleasant. Cassadra wanted to ask him about it, but he quickly shook it off.

“I, uh...” he blushed. “I have a present for you.” He held out a small box to her, carefully wrapped in some silver paper.

Cassandra didn’t know what to say. When was the last time she has been given a birthday gift? It was when their mother, father and rest of the siblings were still alive, and the thought saddened her a little; yet she still managed to smile at Kynan, standing right before her, looking at her expectantly.

“You didn’t have too...” She carefully unwrapped the paper, revealing a small wooden box. When she lifted the lid, she saw a beautiful silver hairpin, embroidered with tiny pieces of whitestone.

He must’ve been saving for months to buy this, she realized, trying to ignore her increased heartbeat.

“I know it’s not... ah, I mean... I wanted to give you something, so...” Kynan stuttered, until he eventually gave up and just mumbled: “Happy Birthday.”

Cassandra touched the hairpin and panned her fingers along it, feeling the cold silver on her fingertips.

“Thank you,” she whispered, blinking the tears that welled up in her eyes. “It’s beautiful.” She took the hairpin out of the box and handed it to Kynan. He took her with a confused look on his face, unsure of what she wants him to do.

“Help me, please?” She held up her hair and showed him where she wanted to have it.

“Ah yes, of course.” He approached her and with slightly trembling hands starting fixing the hairpin in her hair. Cassandra tried to ignore the sudden nervousness at the sudden proximity, but failed to do so as Kynan’s fingers brushed gently across the side of her forehead.

She hoped he didn’t see her blush.

“How does it look?” She asked him when he finally managed to get it done and took a few steps bac to check if everything’s alright. He hesitated for a moment as if he didn’t know if what he’s about to say is appropriate, but then he smiled at her again:

“Beautiful.” Then he realized what he said and immediately started blushing. “Ah, I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t want too...”

He was silenced when Cassandra stepped forward and tentatively pressed her lips to his cheek. They stood there, for just a second, and then she pulled away.

“Thank you, Kynan.” She said. “I really like it.” He did not move, staring at her with his mouth half-open in shock and Cassandra giggled at the view.

Her brother would’ve been _scandalized_ if he saw that.

Kynan finally snapped from his state and ran his fingers through his hair, looking at everything but Cassandra.

“I’m glad you like it.” He mumbled.

Cassandra smiled at him again.

“I’m really sorry, but if that’s all, I really need to get back to work.” Kynan’s face fell, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Cassandra cut in. “We can meet in the evening at the training grounds and have some proper training afterwards, though.”

“At 8 o’clock?” he asked, immediately cheered up by the thought.

“I’ll look forward to it.” Cassandra said. He gave her the last big smile, nodded and then left the room. She watched the door for a few seconds after it closed, unable to stop herself from smiling.

It was going to be a better day than she could’ve anticipated.


End file.
